”Better than I thought it would be,” was the best compliment I could muster for the fourth Terminator film which takes place in the dystopian future the protagonists had so desperately hoped to avoid. Set nearly three decades after the original film, Terminator: Salvation is both a prequel and a sequel thanks to its Mobius strip premise of time travel.
The film opens in 2003 with a pair of characters facing death sentences. One is Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convicted murderer waiting a lethal injecting. The other is Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), a scientist for Cyberdyne who is dying of cancer. Dr. Kogan convinces Wright that he can do some good by donating his body for research. Jump forward to the year 2018 and Marcus awakens to discover a world of bombed out cities and gun-toting homicidal machines. Judgment Day has come and pass and the humans are now a ragtag army of resistance fighters against the mechanical forces of Skynet. An adult John Connor (Christian Bale) isn’t the chosen one just yet, but he’s getting there. Connor recently learns that Skynet is capturing human prisoners for experiments to create the T-800s that would eventually be sent back in time to kill his mother. He also discovers a deactivation code that can shut down Skynet’s robots which may lead to a decisive victory over the machines. Meanwhile, Wright wanders into the ruins of Los Angeles and meets a teenaged Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the father of John Connor who must be protected at all cost lest his son never come into existence. Salvation also stars Bryce Dallas Howard as John’s wife, Kate; Common as John’s right-hand man Barnes; and Moon Bloodgood as a pilot for the resistance. Even a certain California governor makes a cameo appearance thanks to modern technology.
Terminator gets plenty right in terms of action and visuals. McG provides a surprisingly steady hand from the director’s seat in comparison to his usual flair for MTV-style theatrics. McG had cited Children of Men as an influence and you can see it in one of the action sequences which was filmed in one, long take. The look of the picture is a bleached out combination of sepia and metallic gray, giving the world a grimy, disparate feel. The action itself is more low-key than Terminator 3 which was driven by big, loud explosions. The acting is good with the notable exception of Common who gives several stilted line readings. Christian Bale is fine in the role of John Connor though he is repeating the same growling intensity he displayed as Batman. Bale is overshadowed by his co-stars Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin, a pair of actors whose stars are definitely on the rise.
Worthington will also star in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans as well as James Cameron’s Avatar. Cameron himself recommended Worthington for the role. Yelchin who was great as Chekov in Star Trek plays the younger Kyle Reese just as tough as he was when played by Michael Biehn. Bryce Dallas Howard follows in the footsteps of Linda Hamilton as the mother of the future though she only gets a tiny amount of screen time. Michael Ironside, one of the best character actors ever, ups the growly gruffness as Gen. Ashdown, leader of the resistance.
The film opens in 2003 with a pair of characters facing death sentences. One is Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a convicted murderer waiting a lethal injecting. The other is Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), a scientist for Cyberdyne who is dying of cancer. Dr. Kogan convinces Wright that he can do some good by donating his body for research. Jump forward to the year 2018 and Marcus awakens to discover a world of bombed out cities and gun-toting homicidal machines. Judgment Day has come and pass and the humans are now a ragtag army of resistance fighters against the mechanical forces of Skynet. An adult John Connor (Christian Bale) isn’t the chosen one just yet, but he’s getting there. Connor recently learns that Skynet is capturing human prisoners for experiments to create the T-800s that would eventually be sent back in time to kill his mother. He also discovers a deactivation code that can shut down Skynet’s robots which may lead to a decisive victory over the machines. Meanwhile, Wright wanders into the ruins of Los Angeles and meets a teenaged Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), the father of John Connor who must be protected at all cost lest his son never come into existence. Salvation also stars Bryce Dallas Howard as John’s wife, Kate; Common as John’s right-hand man Barnes; and Moon Bloodgood as a pilot for the resistance. Even a certain California governor makes a cameo appearance thanks to modern technology.
Terminator gets plenty right in terms of action and visuals. McG provides a surprisingly steady hand from the director’s seat in comparison to his usual flair for MTV-style theatrics. McG had cited Children of Men as an influence and you can see it in one of the action sequences which was filmed in one, long take. The look of the picture is a bleached out combination of sepia and metallic gray, giving the world a grimy, disparate feel. The action itself is more low-key than Terminator 3 which was driven by big, loud explosions. The acting is good with the notable exception of Common who gives several stilted line readings. Christian Bale is fine in the role of John Connor though he is repeating the same growling intensity he displayed as Batman. Bale is overshadowed by his co-stars Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin, a pair of actors whose stars are definitely on the rise.
Worthington will also star in the upcoming remake of Clash of the Titans as well as James Cameron’s Avatar. Cameron himself recommended Worthington for the role. Yelchin who was great as Chekov in Star Trek plays the younger Kyle Reese just as tough as he was when played by Michael Biehn. Bryce Dallas Howard follows in the footsteps of Linda Hamilton as the mother of the future though she only gets a tiny amount of screen time. Michael Ironside, one of the best character actors ever, ups the growly gruffness as Gen. Ashdown, leader of the resistance.
Still, there’s something ironically mechanical about Terminator: Salvation. The practical effects revolutionized by Stan Winston have given way to CG-monstrosities inspired by Transformers. The story feels like it’s going through the motions without any true emphasis on the actual characters. The story seems more occupied with choking the audience in a cloud of macho testosterone. Themes are laid out questioning the humanity of the humans themselves, but those are explored in a pedestrian manner. Despite all the time travel and set pieces, there were still deeper things running through the first two Terminator films.
The original film was Sarah Connor on the path to realizing she was meant for something more. Terminator 2 was a coming-of-age tale and focused on the young John Connor and Arnold as his surrogate father figure. There really isn’t anything lying beneath the surface of Terminator: Salvation. The script was originally written by the duo of John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris who also wrote Terminator 3 as well as The Game and ::ugh:: Catwoman. The screenplay was extensively rewritten to boost the role of John Connor when Bale expressed interest in playing him rather than Marcus Wright. It passed through the hands of both Paul Haggis and Shield creator Shawn Ryan. It doesn’t have the written-by-committee feel that many Hollywood blockbusters have, but there’s no resonance.
The original film was Sarah Connor on the path to realizing she was meant for something more. Terminator 2 was a coming-of-age tale and focused on the young John Connor and Arnold as his surrogate father figure. There really isn’t anything lying beneath the surface of Terminator: Salvation. The script was originally written by the duo of John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris who also wrote Terminator 3 as well as The Game and ::ugh:: Catwoman. The screenplay was extensively rewritten to boost the role of John Connor when Bale expressed interest in playing him rather than Marcus Wright. It passed through the hands of both Paul Haggis and Shield creator Shawn Ryan. It doesn’t have the written-by-committee feel that many Hollywood blockbusters have, but there’s no resonance.
The Terminator is a great film and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of my favorite films of all time. I can watch the latter over and over again, but I don’t have the burning desire to see Terminator: Salvation a second time. It’s a decent enough action film, but lacks the originality of the previous installments.
Rating: ** 1/2
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